C1357 The Silver War Pike

Yu Yuan watched the "Cold Domain Bear" with a complex expression from within the Dragon Slash Platform.

He was beginning to understand that this enigmatic bear had only mastered part of the Sword Sect's sophisticated sword spell. Sword intent flowed through its body, allowing it to grasp the deep meanings of the spell.

It could even use this sword intent to activate corresponding sword lights and beams within the river of sword lights.

Yet, the bear itself was incapable of wielding a sword or refining sword lights and beams to vanquish foes.

This was because its beastly sinews and blood lacked Spiritual Qi.

Practitioners of the Sword Sect typically didn't emphasize physical conditioning or the accumulation of Qi and blood. As a result, most Sword Sect cultivators, including the Great Cultivators, possessed only a scant amount of Qi and blood.

Their strength lay in the Yellow Court Little World within their lower dantians, their refined Spiritual Qi, and the purification of their souls.

Having once attempted to perceive the intricacies of the sword spells left by other Sword Immortals, Yu Yuan knew that these subtle sword intents and Spiritual Spells were almost always a fusion of Spiritual Qi and soul power.

In this context, Qi and blood seemed trivial.

Without the corresponding Spiritual Qi and soul power coursing through their veins and flesh, many exquisite sword spells were impossible to execute, unable to coalesce into sword rainbows or lights.

The "Cold Domain Bear," an alien beast, shared the same source of power as the mighty demons of the vast ocean: Qi and blood, and the beast soul.

Despite its insight into numerous sword spells and its ability to emanate sword intent, it could not generate sword beams within its body nor infuse the sword intent into these beams.

It was limited to depleting the sword spells it had comprehended within the river of sword light.

The bear let out a soft whimper. Suddenly, the Impasse Land in the distance became clearly visible from the Dragon Slash Platform.

This Impasse Land was devoid of Asura Clan members and various alien beasts.

The boundary wall that had encircled the land appeared to have been recently torn down, allowing the Galaxy Extraordinary Talent from the Firefly Starfield to flood in, resulting in the death of numerous pines and other trees.

In the subterranean realms of that world, beneath the ocean depths and in the shadowy forest enclaves, sword lights gleamed intermittently.

"The remaining Yang God sword cultivators were hidden in a frigid world, one that Alonso had severed from the Impasse Land!" Zhou You observed the disturbance and scoffed, "Alonso must have known all along. The Yang God sword cultivators were covertly setting up a sword formation in another bitterly cold world. Otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately torn away the star's realm wall to confine Xi Quan."

While speaking, both he and Yu Yuan noticed a colossal silver warship radiating a chilling glow as it soared from the ground, setting course for that world. The thunderous roar of the warship, trailing silver-white flames, was awe-inspiring.

Soon after, towering Asura warriors, armed with long spears and blades of white light, mounted on massive war beasts, began to hunt down the concealed Yang Gods of the Sword Sect in the world stripped of its realm wall. The Yang Gods, secretly deployed by Yue Mu with the Heavenly Water Sword and arranged in formation as a contingency, quickly became the prime targets for the Asura Clan's slaughter.

Nearly a hundred Asura warriors, all of Eighth and Seventh Level bloodlines, with battleships coordinating from above, left the Sword Sect's hidden members in dire straits. Yu Yuan witnessed a female Sword Immortal, a practitioner of the Shattering Sword, being dismembered by an Asura cloaked in radiant silver light.

He also saw a sword cultivator, a fellow practitioner of the Earth Sword Spell, soaring towards the heavens, only to be engulfed by the Asura Clan battleship's artillery fire. The Yang God's body, like a colossal piece of luminous jade, shattered into dust in the sky.

Almost simultaneously, Alonso, the Asura Clan's Supreme Commander, invoked his Bloodline Secret Technique. The silver gauze that was once a world's realm wall abruptly solidified into a silver war pike. Alonso, spear in hand, materialized above Xi Quan, his figure tall and imposing.

As Xi Quan, bearing her Aspect like one shouldering a tomb of swords, looked up to see the silver war pike thrusting towards her, she readied her sword to counter. But before she could strike, the silver war pike vanished, only to reappear within Xi Quan's soul, piercing through her Yin God.

Xi Quan's peculiar Aspect began to shudder intensely. The white, bone-laden sword tomb, like a mountain, burst apart. Countless bones, intermingled with the essence of withering sword intent, collapsed like an illusory palace made from stacks of blocks.

Xi Quan instantly reverted to her true form.

Fine cracks appeared on the blade of her Withered Sword, seemingly caused by the tomb's destruction.

Yet, the Great Sword Immortal, who had taken an unorthodox path in her sword spell practice, set her face in a grimace and spat out mouthfuls of blood onto the bone sword.

The cracks, like narrow, monstrous mouths, greedily swallowed her blood and, in the blink of an eye, sealed themselves as before.

The Withered Sword regained its pristine whiteness. Its desolate sword intent was only slightly diffused, not as focused as it had been.

"Senior sister, you could have escaped."

Jee Ningshuang, who had not yet attempted to break through the Element Cage, looked worn and resigned, as if silently reproaching Xi Quan for her recklessness.

She hadn't wanted Xi Quan to come, nor to risk herself.

She was still pondering the marvels of the sword light rivers, ready to integrate the star frost sword light into her being, confident in her other means of support.

What she needed was time!

Yet, Xi Quan had impulsively charged in at this moment, all to save her.

"I've come all this way; do you think I'd fear death?"

Xi Quan's expression was icy as she turned and forced Lollar back with a swing of her sword, ignoring the bead of blood forming on her forehead. "Alonso, as a Golden Asura, can't you face me openly? Aren't you Asuras supposed to excel in hand-to-hand combat?"

"You're seeking death?" Alonso exclaimed in surprise.

"Can you kill me?" Xi Quan scoffed.

"You've yet to advance to the late period of the Unrestrained Stage. The Withered Sword you've mastered will continue to harm you. Where does this confidence come from?" Alonso shook his head, cutting to the heart of the matter, "Who do you think you are? You, and Du Yuan as well, are both doomed to never reach the Primordial Spirit stage. Aren't you aware of that?"

"Disillusionment Sword, Withered Sword... after every brutal battle, you end up wounded as well."

"You two are clearly not grand cultivators from the Ancient Desolate Sect. Your flesh and blood are hardly sufficient for the ordeal. Your bodies are riddled with wounds—surely you're aware of this?"

"Laughable. Do you fancy yourselves akin to that legendary figure from a hundred thousand years ago? Her innate power of regeneration allowed her to heal her hidden injuries in the midst of battle, unaffected by the fray."

"You two..."

Alonso shook his head.

With a slight lift of his empty hand, a genuine silver war pike materialized.

Wrapped around this authentic silver war pike was a peculiar membrane—the very boundary of the realm he had previously torn.

Alonso thrust his pike forward.

A dazzling divine brilliance, too intense to gaze upon, pierced through the Withered Sword Intent and a myriad of bones, as if boring a hole through the fabric of space and time itself.

Xi Quan was drenched in her own blood, scattering across the cosmos. Clutching the Withered Sword, she plummeted into a nearby snowy peak, shattering several in her descent.

"Xi Quan is one of our own."

At that moment, Zhou Xun, stationed in a distant part of the galaxy, clenched his horsetail whisk and turned to look at Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly as he turned his attention to the Cold Domain Bear.

The bear did not turn or make any superfluous movements.

*Roar!*

It let out a majestic roar, as if to declare that Yu Yuan was the only one of concern to it.

Any intruder in the Firefly Starfield, whether they were Hao Yun's esteemed Sword Sect cultivators, members of the Chamber of Commerce, or the Divine Soul Sect, would face retribution for their audacity.

For the first time, it had disregarded Yu Yuan's subtle suggestion.

Alonso stowed the crystal ball crafted from the eye of a Celestial Star Beast and, in a blink, he was at Xi Quan's crash site. "You're far too naive."

He chuckled, holding the silver war pike in one hand while his other hand burst forth with a brilliance like a silver sun.

A deluge of light beams rained down.

The snow-capped mountain range where Xi Quan lay was riddled like a wasp's nest by the silver light. As Xi Quan tried to rise, she was bombarded by hundreds of those silver beams, her body streaming with blood.

The Withered Sword in Xi Quan's grip lost its luster, its spirit greatly diminished.

"Do you really think I'm unaware of your background or the finesse of your swordsmanship?" Alonso chuckled softly as his silver war pike thrust forward repeatedly, the sharp golden lightning and the gleam of silver coalescing into countless beams in an instant.

Xi Quan had no choice but to meet the assault with her sword raised.

The Withered Sword generated a ring of grayish-white sword energy that shattered again and again under Alonso's relentless onslaught.

With each shattering, the spirit of the Withered Sword diminished a little more.

Xi Quan's face was etched with urgency as she frequently glanced at the Withered Sword, feeling the sword soul's vitality ebbing away.

She seemed unconcerned about her own injuries, the potential for more wounds on her body, or the prospect of falling to Alonso's silver war pike.

Yet, her greatest fear was the possibility of the Withered Sword breaking, its sword soul dissipating into nothingness.

​